Private Equity
Toronto-based commercialization hub MaRS Discovery District has launched a one-year pilot program to provide new apps to help manage energy consumption data in Ontario households and other venues. Apps from Energent, BuiltSpace, Eyedro and Zerofootprint will be made available to consumers serviced by Hydro One and London Hydro. The initiative is part of the Green Button Standard program, which is being promoted by MaRS Data Catalyst and the Ontario Ministry of Energy in partnership with private industry.
4 min read · 29 November 2013
Internet and cloud developer LeoNovus Inc (TSXV: LTV), which has offices in Ottawa and Sunnyvale, Calf., has appointed Mathew Wilson to the company's board of directors. Wilson is vice president, special situations at Pinetree Capital, an investment and venture capital firm based in Toronto. Pinetree is among the backers of LeoNovus, which is currently ramping up its SMART Media™ platform and distributed cloud services into the hospitality market.
4 min read · 27 November 2013
OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has made a strategic investment in OneEleven, an accelerator focused on the needs of entrepreneurs launching big data-related technology start-ups in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. OMERS partnered with Ontario Centres of Excellence and Ryerson University in co-founding OneEleven, which will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs with proven track records to be part of a peer community that also includes venture capitalists, industry leaders, academics and public policy-makers.
5 min read · 27 November 2013
Yvon Bolduc, president and CEO of the Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec FTQ, this week presented a $2 billion proposal to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance intended to retain the federal tax credit for labour-sponsored venture capital funds, which is scheduled for phase-out by 2017. The proposal would see Québec labour funds commit $950 million to private Québec-based and Canadian venture capital funds, and make $1.05 billion in direct investments in innovative companies. The proposal would also decrease the federal cost of the tax credit program by a third, or approximately $300 million over 10 years.
3 min read · 27 November 2013
Portable North Pole (PNP), a web and mobile application developed by Montréal-based UGroupMedia Inc, has obtained $755,000 in financing from members of Anges Québec and Anges Québec Capital Fund. The fund contributed $375,000 to the deal, while a dozen angel investors, including investment project leader Jean-Luc Sansregret, contributed $380,000. PNP, which allows users to create, view and download video messages from Santa Claus, will use the funds to consolidate working capital, support development of its platform and a new mobile game, and hire personnel. Anges Québec manages a network of 140 investors that has to date backed 33 early-stage companies.
3 min read · 27 November 2013
Deal-making in Canada’s venture capital market rose sharply in both deal and dollar terms in the third quarter of 2013, according to data provided by Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB Canada). Disbursements by VC funds totaled $541 million between July and September, up 48% from the same time in 2012. In the same period, the number of financing rounds involving Canadian innovative companies totaled 103, up 17% year over year. Q3 2013 market activity helped push Canadian VC invested to a total of $1.4 billion as of September 30th, which exceeds by 27% the $1.1 billion invested during the first nine months of 2012. Click here for the complete Q3 2013 Canadian venture capital market report.
6 min read · 26 November 2013
Beyond the Rack, a Montréal-based online shopping club for designer brand apparel, accessories, beauty, and home decor products at up to 80% off retail, has secured a new financing round totaling $25 million. The round was led by Investissement Québec, Iris Capital and Tandem Expansion Fund, and included the participation of current investors Highland Capital Partners, Panorama Capital, BDC Venture Capital IT Fund and iNovia Capital. Proceeds of the investment will be used to further accelerate strategies for long-term growth of the company and its active customer base. Founded in 2009, Beyond the Rack has raised close to $109 million in venture capital funding since 2010.
5 min read · 26 November 2013
VA Angels has provided a second round of funding to Innovative Trauma Care Inc, an Edmonton-based medical device start-up focused on developing solutions to address causes of preventable death in traumatic injury scenarios. The new round brings the company's total investment since its 2010 founding to $1.1 million. Funding proceeds will be used to expand Innovative Trauma Care's sales and marketing, as well as fully commercialize its product, reduce the cost of goods, and move the company towards a profitability position. Western Canadian members of VA Angels, which currently total 85, have done 57 deals for $28.3 million since the organization's inception in 2003.
3 min read · 26 November 2013
Danish software company Sitecore has purchased for an undisclosed amount commerceserver.net, a Gatineau, Québec-based e-commerce vendor. The seller in the transaction was the Seattle, Wash.-based SMITH, a digital experience agency and commerce services provider. The acquired business will be integrated with Sitecore's customer experience management platform. Sitecore has since late 2011 been backed by U.S. venture capital firm Technology Crossover Ventures.
3 min read · 26 November 2013
Toronto-based commercialization hub MaRS Innovation has entered into a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and its affiliate Janssen Inc, to advance early-stage technologies related to human health in therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, MaRS Innovation and the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in Boston, Mass. will jointly identify and fund high-potential opportunities emerging from research at MaRS Innovation's 16 member institutions, which include the University of Toronto and its teaching hospitals.
2 min read · 25 November 2013
